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The decline
At 1:53pm on March 19, 2009, Carlos said… Carlos M. Diaz Díaz 1
Gerald Irving
English Comp. II
5 March 2009
The Decline of Neatness
Since the last century, most people have been destroying the environment even though human lives are the ones being affected. Sometimes, the desire in most people of becoming wealthy drives them to lower the respect for the rights of human. It is obvious that everybody wants to be respected, and for that most of us get educated so. According to Norman Cousins, the author of “the Decline of Neatness”, “the first aim of education is to develop respect for live; just as the highest expression of civilization is the supreme tenderness that people are strong enough to manifest toward one another. If society is breaking down, as it to often appears to be, it is not because we lack the brain power to meet its demands but because our feelings are so dulled that we do not recognize we have a problem”. On the other hand, why is so hard for most of us , or most of the educated people, to have a clear comprehension of the fact that everything we do will have a future consequence which can be damaging or supportive for the future generation? To illustrate my point, something that will harm the future generation will be global warming which is now increasing in most developed countries. Global warming is a gradually destroying our natural habitats and we are the only ones responsible of it. We are also contributing every single day to increase the used of unnecessary energy which is one way of contributing to global warming. According to Time for Change, “an average house has between 10 and 30 electrical appliances, which are normally not switched off but instead
Díaz 2
in standby mode”. They also notify that a recent study in the USA found out that 10% to 30% of the electrical power consumption of an average household is for such standby or “leaking” electricity. We, therefore, have to stop wasting energy before is too late!
Perhaps, the waist of energy plays its role in global warming; we can not be oblivious to most of the invention that took place in the Industrial Revolution such as, the steam engine, steamships, and the new rise of skyscrapers. All of these inventions had an impact on the environment. For instance, the steam engine, steamship, and melting of iron to make the steel to build high buildings, released an enormous amount of carbon to the atmosphere. On the other hand, the Industrial revolution was a time for development for many countries in which modernity started to grow. As modernity grew, it was obvious that the technology was going to increase gradually. The Industrial Revolution did not bring anything good to the planet; instead, it just brought more contamination to the atmosphere that lead to a complete disaster for the planet and the health of humanity.
At the present time, we have enormous contamination problems in many countries. For instance, Germany is one of the countries that has these problems. “An official study from the German government shows the risk of getting cancer is increasing for children growing up in the neighborhood of a nuclear power station. This is a particular true for leukemia, a special case of cancer. Also, they informed nuclear power stations are causing cancer in children who live in a ratio less than 5 kilometers” Unfortunately, we are facing terrible consequences because of the extensive used of nuclear plants even though we have the technology to find our way out of this problem. For instance, solar panels are a good source to get clean energy from the sun without harming the
Díaz 3
environment, but people do not ask for it. In addition, we are massive consumers which implicate that factories and industries have to produce more “stuff”. It leads to the expulsion of more carbon into the atmosphere which leads to more deterioration of our environment. Therefore, if we do not put a “hold” on the desired of getting “new stuff” or all the fancy electronic items, then it will be too late for the future generation to get clean air. Unfortunately, not everybody appreciates the world we live in. It is really uncomfortable to see some people exploiting the natural resources of the planet which little by little will affect all of us and the future generation. It is hard to understand, but most of us do not want to recognize that we are destroying the earth. “Our feelings are so dulled that we do not recognize we have a problem”. However, now is the time to start saving the planet. The technology already exists to save it from so much pollution; therefore, why we do not ask for such technology? For instance, solar panels are a perfect source of clean energy which benefits human beings through using renewable energy. We have to start investing in solar panels because it will reduced the chance of getting cancer, the air will be cleaner, and less fossils fuel will be burnt unnecessarily.
Gerald Irving
English Comp. II
5 March 2009
The Decline of Neatness
Since the last century, most people have been destroying the environment even though human lives are the ones being affected. Sometimes, the desire in most people of becoming wealthy drives them to lower the respect for the rights of human. It is obvious that everybody wants to be respected, and for that most of us get educated so. According to Norman Cousins, the author of “the Decline of Neatness”, “the first aim of education is to develop respect for live; just as the highest expression of civilization is the supreme tenderness that people are strong enough to manifest toward one another. If society is breaking down, as it to often appears to be, it is not because we lack the brain power to meet its demands but because our feelings are so dulled that we do not recognize we have a problem”. On the other hand, why is so hard for most of us , or most of the educated people, to have a clear comprehension of the fact that everything we do will have a future consequence which can be damaging or supportive for the future generation? To illustrate my point, something that will harm the future generation will be global warming which is now increasing in most developed countries. Global warming is a gradually destroying our natural habitats and we are the only ones responsible of it. We are also contributing every single day to increase the used of unnecessary energy which is one way of contributing to global warming. According to Time for Change, “an average house has between 10 and 30 electrical appliances, which are normally not switched off but instead
Díaz 2
in standby mode”. They also notify that a recent study in the USA found out that 10% to 30% of the electrical power consumption of an average household is for such standby or “leaking” electricity. We, therefore, have to stop wasting energy before is too late!
Perhaps, the waist of energy plays its role in global warming; we can not be oblivious to most of the invention that took place in the Industrial Revolution such as, the steam engine, steamships, and the new rise of skyscrapers. All of these inventions had an impact on the environment. For instance, the steam engine, steamship, and melting of iron to make the steel to build high buildings, released an enormous amount of carbon to the atmosphere. On the other hand, the Industrial revolution was a time for development for many countries in which modernity started to grow. As modernity grew, it was obvious that the technology was going to increase gradually. The Industrial Revolution did not bring anything good to the planet; instead, it just brought more contamination to the atmosphere that lead to a complete disaster for the planet and the health of humanity.
At the present time, we have enormous contamination problems in many countries. For instance, Germany is one of the countries that has these problems. “An official study from the German government shows the risk of getting cancer is increasing for children growing up in the neighborhood of a nuclear power station. This is a particular true for leukemia, a special case of cancer. Also, they informed nuclear power stations are causing cancer in children who live in a ratio less than 5 kilometers” Unfortunately, we are facing terrible consequences because of the extensive used of nuclear plants even though we have the technology to find our way out of this problem. For instance, solar panels are a good source to get clean energy from the sun without harming the
Díaz 3
environment, but people do not ask for it. In addition, we are massive consumers which implicate that factories and industries have to produce more “stuff”. It leads to the expulsion of more carbon into the atmosphere which leads to more deterioration of our environment. Therefore, if we do not put a “hold” on the desired of getting “new stuff” or all the fancy electronic items, then it will be too late for the future generation to get clean air. Unfortunately, not everybody appreciates the world we live in. It is really uncomfortable to see some people exploiting the natural resources of the planet which little by little will affect all of us and the future generation. It is hard to understand, but most of us do not want to recognize that we are destroying the earth. “Our feelings are so dulled that we do not recognize we have a problem”. However, now is the time to start saving the planet. The technology already exists to save it from so much pollution; therefore, why we do not ask for such technology? For instance, solar panels are a perfect source of clean energy which benefits human beings through using renewable energy. We have to start investing in solar panels because it will reduced the chance of getting cancer, the air will be cleaner, and less fossils fuel will be burnt unnecessarily.
Replies are closed for this discussion.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hamza Sahibzada on -
technology is a huge pluss point in our society. Instead of focusing technology on human goods i think that more of the technology advancements that take place need to be invested in our planet so that we can be more energy effiecient and more eco friendly. if we have the technology and refuse to use it for good its simpily a waste to our future generations because the air will be more polluted and there will be a higher risk of caching all sorts of diseases. investing our technologies in more eco friendly machines is the only way to fight against this war on global warming.
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Permalink Reply by Ebony on -
In response to global warming and the ways it effects our environment I toldly agree. Many people are very much unaware of the harm they do to the environment by letting house hold appliances run all day. As stated in paragraph one it’s a very high contribution to global warming when you let appliances like your lab top run all day. I’m also in high agreeance with the way industrial revolution inventions contributed to global warming. To be more specific stated in paragraph two the melting of iron is a contribution to global warming because it pollutes the earth with carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is believed to be one of the top toxics when polluting the earth. I strongly disagree with the inventions made during the industrial revolution, but I’m very upset behind the melting of iron invention.
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Permalink Reply by Vanessa on -
People must take actions now, or we'll end up in a disaster just like in sci-movies. The earth is the only planet we can live on, so we must take good care of it by using its natural resources fairly. We should conserve energy and use alternative resources such as wind and solar energy to reduce the intoxicating carbon emissions on the the atmosphere created by the advancing technology. We can help the world to be cleaner and safer again if each one us participate by conserving energy, recycling raw materials, and using less machines. Although we can't stop the world from developing the technology, it is safer that we refrain the use of excessive energy. Read when the sun is out. Walk instead of driving. Get out instead of sitting in front of the screen. Talk with the person beside you instead of babbling on the phone. By doing that regularly, you will be surprised how these small involvements can turn into a big, round, happy earth!
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Permalink Reply by PrincessDiamond Love on -
Carlos,
Your document was very interesting and factual. I admire the certainty you pointed out. "Global Warming is gradually destroying our natural habitat, and we are the only ones responsible for it." I consent to that. Global Warming is caused by so many things, such as creating technology that can save a life, or things than we don't need, such as materialistic possesions. It is going to be really difficult in helping people to become fully conscious of Global Warming and getting them to acknowledge the fact that it is destroying the earth at a dangerous pace. Although there are individuals that are well educated on the dangers of Global Warming, they are still going to continue puchasing their fancy electronics, riding in the most expensive vehicle that guzzles the most gas, and most of all, shop until they drop. People are not as uncomfortable as they ought to be about the glamorization of human hurt. (Norman Cousins "The Decline of Neatness" Time 2 Apr. 1990)
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